Everywoman

“No one knows what you have been through or what your pretty little eyes have seen, but I can assure you – whatever you have conquered, it shines through your mind.” Nikki Rowe

When I painted this portrait, I had just completed a class with Colleen Reynolds. I loved the class, but since I had not been satisfied with the two portraits I painted there, I wanted to practice painting another. While I was working on the portrait of this woman, I thought I had captured her mood. However, because I was frustrated with my inability to portray the left side of her face, I threw the painting away. A few days later, I went to empty the bin, and, for some reason, I retrieved this little painting. I stashed it away and found it this week while cleaning.

I now see something very different than what I had originally intended. In this painting, I see and sense so many women and so many emotions. I see a black woman worried about her son driving to the next town. I see an Asian woman trying to understand how to be safe with the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. I see a white woman trying to obtain health care. I see a Hispanic woman saddened because her daughter has decided not to teach her children Spanish so they will fit in better. I see an Indian woman struggling to understand a new culture. I see “everywoman”. I see anger, frustration, and fear. What is next for her? How does she step out of the darkness? Who will be there for her? Who will support her?

My hope is that women will continue to help women as we boldly move forward to embrace our shared future.

Hear me as a woman
Have me as your sister
On purpled battlefield breaking day,
So I might say our victory is just beginning,
See me as change,
Say I am movement,
That I am the year
And I am the era
Of the women.
— Amanda Gorman, Won’t You Be My Sister